Potato & Black Bean Enchiladas with Crispy Quinoa

In this house we are all about making Mexican and Hispanic recipes. When we went vegetarian, one of our favorite meals we had to tweak was enchiladas. You might wonder how?? We wanted to have enchiladas with a decent amount of filling so we started substituting the meat for potatoes. We’ve used both sweet potatoes and russet potatoes and both are fantastic to use!

We have made so many different versions of this dish. It’s an easy one to throw together and freeze for later or eat after the kids go to bed. 🙂 I also love it because it’s a great recipe to have on hand and get creative with!

For this recipe I used ingredients I already had in the kitchen, but feel free to throw in items you have lying around! It’s great when you have some veggies you need to eat before they go bad. This recipe allows you to use those veggies to create a delicious filling!

Usually when I go to a Mexican restaurant I order veggie enchiladas. They always come in a group of 3. Well these are much more filling so watch out! My eyes were bigger than my stomach the first time I made potato enchiladas.

I added the crispy quinoa as an afterthought and it turned out to be a phenomenal decision on my part. I had some leftover quinoa in the fridge that I needed to eat. Another wonderful way to use quinoa! I’ll be adding that to several more dishes!

Ingredients:

2 large russet potatoes (or 4-5 small ones)

1 can of black beans, drained

1 8oz bag of shredded pepper jack cheese

6 medium flour tortillas

1/2 cup yellow onion

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 green onion, chopped

1/2 cup of cream cheese

2 tbsp of sour cream

1 cup of whole milk or unflavored almond milk

1/2 cup quinoa, cooked

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cumin

salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Peel and dice the potatoes. Boil potatoes until tender. You should be able to poke a fork in them easily. Drain potatoes and add to a medium size mixing bowl.

If you have leftover quinoa, great! You can skip this step. If not, then boil the quinoa and drain. Saute quinoa in a skillet. I didn’t use any cooking spray or EVOO. I wanted it to get really crispy. I cooked it just enough to start turning brown, then it becomes extra crispy in the oven.

While boiling the potatoes, dice yellow onion. Mince the garlic. Saute both ingredients in a small skillet with some EVOO until translucent and fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Add the onions, garlic, and sour cream to the bowl with the potatoes. Stir.

Add the black beans and stir.

Add 4oz of the pepper jack cheese. (half the bag)

Add all seasonings to the mixture.

Spread mixture in a line into each tortilla. Roll the tortillas and place in your dish.

Pour cheese sauce over the tortillas until evenly covered.

Spread the cooked and crispy quinoa over the tortillas and cheese sauce. They will continue to crisp up in the oven. The crunch they add it amazing!

Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees. Top with green onion and enjoy!

Cheese Sauce:

In a sauce pot, bring milk to a boil. Add the cream cheese. Stir until cream cheese mostly dissolves. Add a handful of pepper jack cheese at a time, stirring continuously until melted. If you add too much cheese all at once, the sauce will thicken too quickly and won’t pour easily. Do this until the sauce is thick and creamy.

***Addition***

I thought about this after we finished our meal…but you could pour enchilada sauce on the bottom of the pan. then place your tortillas in the sauce, then pour the cheese sauce on top. Oh. My. God. Some of my great ideas come a little too late. But next time I make veggie enchiladas I will do this!

I hope you enjoy! Don’t forget to try something new. If it’s not part of this recipe, oh well. Use what you have and go with it. To be honest I’ve always been the type of “cook” who eyeballs it and takes risks with flavors. Most of the time it works out in my favor. You’ll get more comfortable the more you cook the foods you love!

Hi! Welcome to Kula & Kale! I’m Coley; a mother of two girls and a wife to one incredibly loving and patient man! I love yoga, running, meditation & mindfulness, cooking vegan and vegetarian recipes, and most recently gardening!